There were a lot of mixed reactions about the ending when it aired. Some people thought that Tony was killed. Personally I don't believe that and I think the writers also confirmed that isn't what happened. And if you think about their choice of song I think the intent was just to show that despite all of the uncertainties about tomorrow Tony will keep chugging along doing what he does.

Seasons one and two were brilliant. The rest were certainly not as good but I still enjoyed the show.

 

I loved The Sopranos when it originally aired up until the 6th season. It definitely went a season too long and instead of a 2 part season 6 they should have wrapped it up quicker as the last season really dragged on and hurt the series as a whole. The Vito gay storyline was dumb, as was everything with Tony in a coma and don't even get me started on the worst death in TV history with Christopher. I actually don't think the ending is as bad as everyone thinks or thought, the main problem with it was when it originally aired people thought their cable went out and that was their reaction. I think that 5 minute scene in the diner was very intense and really showed the viewer how Tony was always looking over his shoulder and always had to be alert to people around him because he never knew who's out to get him. I personally don't think Tony was killed when the screen went to black simply because if they choose to kill him off they would have shown it and who would have killed him? The guy in the 'Members Only' jacket? I don't buy it as wise guys wouldn't take the time to sit at the diner, order food, go to the bathroom and come out shooting. They would have entered the diner with guns in hand shot Tony up and left quickly. It is too bad that the last season was so weak it hurt the rest of the series but really the first 5 seasons were just great, and I choose to think of them when I think of the series as a whole.

 

Agree.

I felt completely defrauded by that last season, and especially the ending. Not that seasons 3-5 weren't meandering more and more over time and frustrating as hell.

It pissed me off so bad that I owned seasons 1-4, but when the series ended I sold them all.

 

Yeah I know everyone who thinks Tony was killed point to that scene with Bob to connect it with Tony's possible death, however I still feel that if David Chase planned to kill him he would have shown it. It really doesn't make any sense why they wouldn't show it.

 

Tony didn't get killed. The scene was meant to give us one final insight into Tony's life before we were cut off for good. The screen going black signified the end for us, not Tony.

 

I didn't hate the final season as it seems some did. And I liked the ending. Comparing it to The Wire is a bit tricky. They are both great shows. But they are a little different in what they try to be and how they execute what they do.

I tend to like The Wire a little better. I think the season long arcs were better and more satisfying than those in The Sopranos. On an episode by episode basis I think The Sopranos is more entertaining. But I really appreciated how The Wire built things up and made you work to get resolution.

 

The Sopranos is the greatest TV series of all-time because of the family interaction and the characters. They are REAL people. meaning..those type of people exist.

As for the ending....it was David Chase's way of telling us that we can't "look in" anymore.

The show was setup from season 1 on..as a story telling. Think about it. Each episode is basically a story being told to you from the view or perspective of a character.

That is why in Season 1 and in the last season, each character got their own episode.

Ending it the way they ended it..was basically to tell us..."that is all you get"...basically..the last show catches up TO US in REAL TIME.

 

The Wire rules over all else.. period. Sopranos was awesome though.

 

Besides...

there was no longer a reason to Hit Tony. it could have only been a revenge killing from somebody he ****ed over.

Not a business Hit.

 

Ok I will play devil's advocate here. Who kills Tony then? It can't be anyone that's in front of him because we as the viewer would see it as would Tony. The only person it could be is the guy in the member's only jacket that goes to the bathroom during the scene. However Tony looks over the guy numerous times during the scene and dismisses him as a threat. But assume that the guy is in fact the killer why would he eat at the diner, go the bathroom and then shot Tony? It's not their style. They wouldn't waste time eating, they would go in with guns firing and leave. It just doesn't make any sense and it never did. That guy was just in the scene to build tension, add that to the fact of why would Tony be a target anymore when he wipped out the rival crew, remember he had a deal set with the next in line after it was agreed they would take out Phil, there is no one that had a beef with him worthy enough to take him out. None of that adds up. But seriously if you have a counter arguement or another theory I'd love to hear it. I'm not saying I'm right or the people that think he did die at the end is wrong. It's just my opinion.

EDIT: This post was being written before all of your newer posts.

 

Tony Soprano obviously spontaneously combusted...

 

cant hang a bad grade on one part of a tv show. lost, battlestar, happy days, all in the family...they all have their moments.

i mean..did they really need to have 70 yr old Edie get sexually assaulted...seriously? talk about idiot writers never working in this town again.

 

Well, one thing to keep in mind about the final season of the Sopranos is David Chase and Co were out of gas in terms of ideas for the final season, it took HBO throwing a boatload of money at the entire enterprise to create the final season and even then it was kinda clear that the effort was not up to snuff.

IIRC, the seasons kept on being stretched out in terms of time between seasons as the series wound down, what began as the premise of "what if a mobster had psycho therapy?" wound up being an opera that just ran out of steam.

They wound up killing Christopher's girlfriend off because she got a TV series offer, Tony's "mother' end up dying in real life, things like that took the steam off of the series imho.

 

The Character Tony Soprano is alive and well and currently working Film Studio Executives for a maximum score for the certain to be created feature film.


Just to much money involved Sect, that is unless Jimmy Gandolfini enjoys wearing furry imaginary creature outfits in films no one goes to see...

 

That still doesn't take the fault off of Chase and Co. They should have either realized they didn't have enough material to stretch the series out longer and declined making more episodes or they should have thought of better storylines. They had 2 years between Season 5 and Season 6 Part 1 to think of new ideas and another 6 months between Season 6 Part 1 and Part 2. So it wasn't like they were rushed and had no time to think of things before they filmed.

I disagree with this.

I don't think Christopher's girlfriend getting killed had anything to do with her getting a new TV series, 'Joey'. I think her character getting killed was always their plan and it was set up since Season 2 or 3 whenever the FBI caught her. And I actually enjoyed that storyline a lot and her character's death was handled perfectly, so even if they did kill her off because of 'Joey' it was still a great storyline for her to go out with. Plus she was a secondary character so losing her didn't hurt nor would it help the show by any means, like a character of Paulie or Sil would. It's the aftermath of the death that sucked since there was never a real pay off with the tension of Chris and Tony and Tony ending up killing Chris was one of the worst TV deaths ever.

Tony's 'mom' dying in real life did hurt a potential storyline of her testifying against him in court however that stuff was planned for Season 3 so even with changing story lines both that season and Season 4 were very strong so I don't think that took away from the series at all. At least in my opinion since I couldn't stand that character to begin with. Sure it would have been interesting to see what they did with that storyline but we still got a great season without it.

The stuff that took stream from the show were the terrible Season 6 story lines like Vito being gay and hanging out with Johnny Cakes in Vermont and Tony in a coma for half the season in dream episodes that had no pay offs.